Pole Class: Day Fourteen

I'm just going to come out and say it. I SUCK at twirls. They are my ultimate weakness...that and donuts, chocolate cake, strawberry milkshakes, scones and an ice cold glass of whole milk. Since we're on the topic of what I'm really bad at I might as well mention that yesterday I tore skin off the bottom of my right hand because my grip was too hard and I was starting to hold my hand higher. It just got worse today! Boooo! Plus I think my right foot is swollen and it looks ugly...

Ok soooo tonight's class was Flirty Tricks taught by Christina. I really enjoy going to this class because we often go over tricks I've first learned in Total Pole that I need to go over. BUT TONIGHT WAS SPECIAL!!! Christina actually taught some twirls that look really good that I've never tried before. Brand new material to learn!!?!?! Yess!!

One of the twirls that Christina taught us tonight was a Toe Twirl. It's really cute because you can lightly drag your toes along the floor as you spin around the pole. To do this move you simply step with your inside foot, swing your outside leg around and then lift both legs backwards (make sure your legs are straight!). You hold onto the pole with your strong hand and bracket with your other hand to make a triangle. We added on another twirl to the Toe Twirl that I didn't really care for...especially since I kept doing it wrong. Haha.

Next we learned the Switch Twirl, which Christina explained to us was a 1/2 Fireman and a 1/2 Fireman?? We learned the Fireman Twirl first. The Fireman Twirl looks like both your knees are bent and squishing against the pole while you are seated...so kind of like a fireman twirling down a pole. To do the Switch Twirl you step with your inside foot, swing out your outside leg while you bracket with your other hand, your inside leg should bend at the knee first while your outside leg is kept straight. I can't really remember the next step clearly so I probably shouldn't write anything down...

After that we learned a Carousel Twirl. This is different from the first two because your bracket thumb will be facing downward. Again you step with your inside foot and swing your outside foot to give you momentum. Bring both your feet backward so that they touch and arch your back as you swing around the pole. Thank goodness that was the last twirl we learned! You can actually add on a Heartbeat onto the end of this twirl...



For the climbs we learned a Carousel Drop. From a climb, with both of your arms in L position you let go of your legs. You must have the pole up against your breast and belly for this move. You can slide down from this position, but as you slide down your arms must fall at the same time with you.

Another climb pose we learned was the Piping Seat. From a climb, You bring out both your legs to the front. You can twist them at the ankle or if you're feeling comfortable enough you can have them out straight just remember to squeeze squeeze squeeze!!! Then you bring you grab onto the back of your thighs/legs and bend forward. You can also bring your body to the front of the pole and grab your thighs as well.

Lastly for our inversion, Christina taught us the Caterpillar. This was the third time the Caterpillar was brought up in a drop-in class for me, and each time I thought it was the most painful move to learn. Until I can learn to squeeze harder with my knees instead with my feet, then I will always get massive foot bruises from this one. I'll get it down one day, just not tonight :)

Pole Class: Day Nine

Lately I have not been good with keeping up with my pole class posts. Where does all my time go? I feel like I never have time go do anything now. Ok well that's enough whining for now...

Last night Christina Kish taught Poletential's Tuesday Flirty Tricks class and I for some reason I was really nervous since I was comfortable with Cat teaching the class. Christina and Cat actually take turns instructing the class, but Christina was away for 2 weeks. Another reason why I was nervous was because another dancer warned me that Christina always made her students sweat in class. Turns out that there was nothing to be worried about at all! I had such a blast last night. Christina has an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm for pole dancing, and especially a great sense of humor about it too. I love to laugh and I couldn't help giggling all night at the things that she would say.

If you're considering taking a pole class, this class is great for all dancers regardless of your skill level. If you're advanced, they will give you more complex tricks. If you're a beginner, they'll work with you one-on-one. And you should always know how to transition in and out of your moves! My favorite one that Christina taught last night was called "drama." It might not exactly be it's technical name, but that's the name Christina gave it!!

Drama is the transitional move you do before you go into a forward twirl with your inside knee hooked around the pole (it gives you momentum!). If you're going to hook your right knee around the pole, you grab the pole with your right hand and gracefully lift up your inside knee while simultaneously reaching out your left arm. Then with your right (inside) knee up you swing it around the pole and use your left (outside) arm to bracket the pole as you spin.

The Fire Kick (could be a different name?) is another transitional move we learned. This is for when you land squatted after a twirl. Holding onto the pole with both hands (outside arm above), you pull yourself off the ground while holding your knees together to spin around the pole. Christina also taught a variation where you swing your outside leg out for momentum.

Alternatively, if you land on your knees from doing a backward hook Christina taught us this move where you lean all the way back and then gracefully come back up pelvis first.

We did so many moves I can't really remember them all. I do remember her mentioning something called a boomerang. For this move, you use one hand to grip the pole as high as you can and use your other hand (thumb pointed down) to grip the bottom. Using your core muscles you lift yourself out with your legs in a semi-split pose. You can walk into this pose, but no spinning! Squeeze those gluts and abs people!!



Another one we did was the plank...I kept slipping so I never got to free one hand without feeling like I would fall. We did the move differently from this picture. We actually had one hand (thumb pointed upwards) on the bottom instead of gripping the pole on top.



The one move that Christina wanted us to take away with us was the snake move. This helps you get out of your inversion. From the inversion you go into a hand stand and use your inside arm to twist yourself out...kind of difficult to explain.

Pole Class: Day Six

My second Flirty Tricks pole class with Cat! She was just as amazing as last time. For this class my goal was to minimize bruises, which means control and strength building. Did it work? Nooooo. I have bruises from climbing up the pole and sliding down. How does everyone else do it without getting the bruises??

Last night we did a combination of climbing, inversions, poses and twirls. What I really love about this class is that I get to go over moves that I start out learning from the Saturday Total Pole class. So I got to practice some more on my basic twirl, circular front hook with the knee and ankle, and corkscrew (which I nailed the first time I tried it last night!!!!!!). What's also really cool about this class is that Cat loves to introduce us to different variations of the twirl moves. The one variation I really liked was the stag. When you're doing a stag twirl variation both legs are bent at the knees and free from the pole. We also did variations where we held the back of our heels or let one arm go to reach out at the audience.

Besides the twirls, we worked a lot on poses once you're up on the pole. We did some basic ones to warm us up like the Chair:





From the chair pose, you can bring both your feet together stretched out like you were a plank (ankles crossed). With both your hands still gripping the pole, lean backwards so that your tailbone touches the pole. Your feet should be above your head. Once you're in this position you can move one hand below your tailbone and keep one on top to grip the pole as you split your legs into a V.



The move I thought was pretty awesome is called Hello Boys:



I swear Cat can insert a V into any pose, twirl or inversion (and I love it!). It's actually pretty difficult to get your legs out into a V like this. But it's hot as hell.

One of the last moves we were working on was a V hand stand. You have to really trust yourself here.

Pole Class: Day Four

To mix it up a little bit, I decided to try out one of Poletential's newest classes they offer, Flirty Tricks. This class was taught by Cat tonight and she is an amazing instructor. In one of my earlier posts I mentioned how she reminds me of Morgana from the Mists of Avalon, but that's off topic. What I was trying to say is that Cat moves like water and is absolutely angelic. She has a history of dancing so that definitely explains her gracefulness. I tried my best to mimic her, unfortunately I realized the difference in skill level when she did the splits and I was still in a lunge position.

What I really enjoyed about this class was that from start to finish the exercises and moves we did were fun and flirty (although I think I laughed at myself a lot tonight for looking like a dork). We did some fun banana peel ab exercises that I want to do at home now partly just so I can see my legs rub slowly against each other...

I don't think I can seriously try to name or even number the amount of tricks we did tonight. There were a lot of variations. We started with twirls and spins...hooking with our ankles and knees. I think I actually did one right this time! But I have to give all the credit to Cat since I really get a move when I can conceptualize it in my mind. I had a problem pushing the pole with one of my hands while I lean out, but she said that it's easier if you're just more lazy about it and let the momentum of your hip swing you. Then I did it!

Afterward we did pole climbing and inversions. Cat taught us a lot of different types of inversions, including the Caterpillar that was taught in Total Pole last Saturday. I'm getting closer! One of the more interesting inversions she taught us was what I'm going to call the Butt Crack Inversion because the pole is literally in between your butt crack for support while you do a hand stand and prop your legs up onto the pole. No hands!

I felt like I had a really good work out tonight, especially since I heard myself panting several times. Even though my arms don't feel like they're about to fall off, I definitely can feel the bruises. The bruises I got from this class are actually worse than from the Saturday Total Pole class. Sliding down the pole hurts! So don't take this class lightly ladies!

Another thing that I really liked about this class was that tonight there were only 3 girls, so I was able to ask Cat a lot of questions about shoes and portable poles. Unfortunately she did say that the X-Pole can come off if you don't install it right since it sticks from pressure. Scary!! Now I want one that is drilled into the ceiling! She also mentioned today how important it is to have a good instructor. At Crunch Fitness they also offer pole classes, but apparently there's a lawsuit against them because the instructor walked away and someone got hurt! Why would you want to take pole dancing at a fitness gym anyways? Go to the pros!